Talking Points

March 14th, 2018The devastating listeriosis outbreak is a reflection of the weaknesses in the SA food system, says Professor Lise Korsten, co-director at the Centre of Excellence in Food Security, University of Pretoria,, in The Conversation.
South Africa has...

March 14th, 2018Bills are being placed before US state legislatures that would make it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion if sought 'solely' because the foetus has Down's syndrome. It is the latest twist in the political debate over abortion, writes The...

February 28th, 2018Countries with greater gender equality see a smaller proportion of women taking degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), a new study has found. Policymakers could use the findings to reconsider initiatives to increase...

February 28th, 2018'Super-agers' have long puzzled scientists, but now researchers say they are unpicking why some people live beyond 80 – and still appear to be in fine fettle, with cognitive capacities on a par with adults decades younger. The Guardian reports...

February 21st, 2018Gauteng Health officials could be criminally charged with culpable homicide for their roles in the Life Esidimeni scandal, says Professor David McQuoid-Mason, of the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies. So, too, could...

February 21st, 2018News that Fav-Afrique - one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most effective snakebite antivenoms - was set to expire in 2016 caused dismay among public health experts and advocates, reports The Conversation. The World Health Organisation is now...

February 21st, 2018Maybe it’s the Viking heritage, says a report in The Guardian. There is an icy open-air pool in the waters of Copenhagen’s harbour, and although it is mid-winter Danes still jump in every day. On the front cover of the city’s health plan, a...

February 14th, 2018John Kane-Berman, a policy fellow at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), writes on the Politicsweb site: “Every time there is a fatality in mining government officials come down on the industry like a ton of bricks. Sometimes they issue...

February 14th, 2018A Spotlight report has picked out eight interesting national-level findings in the latest District Health Barometer (DHB), released by the Health Systems Trust last week.
1. In 2016 only an estimated 72.8% of people in South Africa with diagnosed...

February 14th, 2018The practice of injecting women with the 'controversial' conraceptive Depo-Provera without proper informed consent – especially those who are poor, black and using the public health sector – is still happening, writes Amy Green of Health...

February 14th, 2018Historically, mental health has been neglected on Africa’s health and development policy agenda, writes Professor Crick Lund, professor and director of the Alan J Flisher Centre for Public Mental Health, department of psychiatry and mental health...

February 7th, 2018
It has been called a tragedy. A calamity. A scandal. But, says a Bhekisisa report, the Life Esidimeni debacle was no accident, no rash decision made under pressure, no force of nature. It was sheer arrogance, political manoeuvring, incompetence,...

February 7th, 2018
As the SA government mulls its options to reduce expenditure while funding priority programmes, experts have warned that the abolishment of the medical tax credit could be highly problematic and may even face legal challenge in the absence of...

January 31st, 2018Up to 1m people in the UK are taking anabolic steroids and other image- and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs) to change the way they look, ranging from from teenagers seeking the perfect physique to elderly men hoping to hang on to youthful looks,...

January 24th, 2018A shift in the way US and UK policymakers regulate tobacco, e-cigarettes and nicotine could promote public health efforts to reduce smoking and usher in a new era of less harmful alternatives, writes Dr Kgosi Letlape of the Africa Harm Reduction...

MEDICO-LEGAL

The compulsory contraceptive injection of high school students has led to a public apology by North West Health. The SA Human Rights Commission is investigating.
A public apology has been issued to the community of Phaposane‚ parents and...

A R34m negligence damages claim by Lindiwe Ngwenya over the cerebral palsy of her daughter, following her birth five years ago at the Brakpan Pholosong Hospital, has been settled for R19.2m by Gauteng Health.
Omphile Ngwenya's mother Lindiwe...

Martin Shkreli, a former pharma executive notorious for sharply increasing drug prices has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of fraud, reports The New York Times.
The report says Shkreli, 34, is best known for raising...

Guidelines

A newCanadian guideline for managing opioid use disorders lays out the optimal strategies for the treatment of opioid addiction, including recommending opioid agonist treatment with buprenorphine-naloxone as the preferred first-line treatment. The...

Patients with type 2 diabetes should be treated to achieve an A1C between 7% and 8% rather than 6.5% to 7%, the American College of Physicians (ACP) recommends in an evidence-based guidance statement.
An A1C test measures a person's average blood...

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